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Work Place Bullying and Mobbing” are terms that most people in the United States are unfamiliar with, although according to the Workplace Bullying Institute’s – Zogby survey on workplace bullying, this problem is of epidemic proportions affecting 49% of workers nationally.

Workplace bullying is defined by the Workplace Bullying Institute as repeated, health-harming mistreatment in the form of verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, and humiliation.This is a silent epidemic in that 49% of workers still deny observing this phenomenon in their workplaces. Work place bullying is often done covertly, behind closed doors, most frequently by serial bullies who chose one target at a time.

The bully often employs the help of the “target’s” coworkers, which is called “mobbing”. Gossip and rumors of half or twisted truths about the target, are one of the primary tactics used by bullies to manipulate coworkers into participating in the abuse as well as isolating the target.

What’s so strange about this phenomenon is that targets are usually better than average employees who are cooperative and start off popular with coworkers. The target is devastated by the abuse and isolation that she/he doesn’t understand nor know how to stop because there is no reason for the abuse!

Bullies usually have personality disorders or other physical or emotional mental disorders that rob them of their empathy and compels them to behave in this way. The motivation is usually to get rid of someone who’s good performance is a threat to their own feelings of inadequacy or to control and subjugate their target.

Once chosen as a target there is a 77% chance that the target will quit, be fired, or commit suicide within 2 years. After elimination of the “target”, the bully is compelled to choose a new target within 2 days to 2 weeks.

Short newspaper and magazine articles printed in the United States fail to drive home the complexity and seriousness of this abuse of power, which is similar to the abuse of power in sexual harassment cases.

This abuse often leads to depression, anxiety and complex posttraumatic stress disorder as well as dozens of stress related physical health problems. Many targets become disabled for life.

The number of people and hours involved in bullying/mobbing campaigns is likely our largest, hidden, expense in business today.

As the word gets out about this phenomenon, workers who have been targeted by workplace bullying and mobbing are starting to speak up. In Connecticut the first anti-bullying support group, “Connecticut Bully busters” held their third meeting on August 29th. Meetings are facilitated by Professor Katherine Hermes, our state’s coordinator for the Workplace Bullying and Trauma Institute, in Bellingham, WA. Meetings are held monthly, at Central Connecticut State University.

Connecticut is the 12th state since 2003 to introduce a version of the “The Anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill for Connecticut, 2007. This bill died in Judiciary Committee and was never voted on to move to the Senate floor. Despite this set back, advocates of the movement continue to hope that Connecticut will be the first state to pass this legislation.

To learn more about Bullybusters, or to follow the progress and how to support this important bill, go to this Internet link: